Every loud tick of the clock toward the NFL trade deadline shouts the same order to the Broncos:

Beat the Chiefs!

The time is now for the Broncos to knock Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City off the AFC West throne.

And there’s your hint on how Denver can do it.

Put a hurtin’ on Mahomes.

How’s the West going to be won? With tough cowboys.

So bring me Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson, who grew up in Wyoming as a Broncos fan.

Win or lose this weekend deep in the heart of Texas, the Broncos will either be atop or tied atop the division standings when the trade deadline arrives Tuesday.

As we approach the midway point of this season, his players are proving coach Sean Payton correct, and doubters like me dead wrong, about being ready to make a deep playoff run. 

While it might be sexier clickbait to suggest general manager George Paton should call one of Payton’s old friends in New Orleans, I don’t want to hear anything about the Broncos going begging to Saints general manager Mickey Loomis for pass-catchers Chris Olave or Rashid Shaheed.

The Broncos don’t need no stinking wide receiver.

I’m bullish on the Denver young guys itching for bigger roles behind Courtland Sutton.

After an all-too-quiet rookie season that suggested he had much to learn about being a pro, Troy Franklin has figured it out during his second NFL season (as some knucklehead promised you way back in training camp). 

Pat Bryant is not only a solid blocker in the run game, but has a frame suited to bash his way through tight spaces to offer quarterback Bo Nix an appealing target in the red zone.

While I do view Marvin Mims’ primary value to Denver as a Pro Bowl kick-returner, he’s a cool gadget when Payton wants to get creative with his playbook.

Olave produced more than 1,000 yards in receptions as recently as 2023, but his yards per catch has declined in each of his three years since his rookie season.

Yes, Shaheed is built for speed. But although he might be a more refined receiver than Mims, he isn’t as good in the kick-return game. He’s too much like a weapon already on the Denver roster to be much of an upgrade.

What could make the Broncos dangerous in the January cold is a combination of the rock-em, sock-em running of J.K. Dobbins and a Vance Joseph defense that brings the blitz to rattle bones.

But before they get to January, the Broncos need to win the division for the first time in a decade.

It appeared during their lopsided loss to the Eagles in the Super Bowl that the Chiefs’ dynasty was ready to fall.

But I underestimated the strength of the NFL’s most dynamic power couple. Sorry, Taylor and Travis, I’m not talking about you. Maybe K.C. coach Andy Reid and Mahomes aren’t as good as they once were, but on any given Sunday, they can find a way to make the Chiefs play like the league’s best team.

For all the hoopla about Denver’s 6-2 record, including a victory in Philadelphia over the reigning world champs, it doesn’t really mean a thing unless the Broncos beat Kansas City at Mile High in the middle of November.

With superstar cornerback Pat Surtain expected to be out until Thanksgiving with a pectoral injury, the Denver defense will need all the help it can get to make Mahomes miserable.

That’s why the No. 1 trade target should be Wilson. He’s asked out of Cincinnati. And can you blame him?

Now that the Bengals have seemed to accept that an injury to quarterback Joe Burrow has wrecked their season, Cincy is playing for next year and has taken snaps from Wilson and given them to younger linebackers.

Yes, his $8.7 million cap hit would be a tough nut to crack. But the former Wyoming Cowboys linebacker has been a captain from the college to the pros. Leadership matters more on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. 

At age 29, Wilson can still hit, and more importantly, can cover the tight end well enough to make Kelce think it might be more fun to make breakfast for a pop diva on Monday mornings instead of plunging his 36-year-old body in a cold tub.

Inside linebacker is a Denver weakness that the free agent signing of unreliable Dre Greenlaw hasn’t solved. Alex Singleton is a righteous dude, but the wrong guy to be chasing a tight end through the secondary on third-and-long.

Beat the Chiefs?

Is this the season Denver not only wins the West, but makes a deep playoff run? 

Bring me Wilson and the Broncos will show how serious they really are about being championship contenders.